Chile imposed temporary anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese steel products used in the country’s mining industry in a bid to support faltering local mills.

Chinese steel balls and the bars used to make them will face tariffs of 33.5% and 24.9%, respectively, over the next six months, according to a decree published Saturday in the national gazette.

An uptick of cheap imports due to a slowdown in China’s economy is pressuring steel producers around Latin America. Earlier this month, Chilean lawmakers passed eight resolutions to urge President Gabriel Boric to defend the loss-making local industry and his economy minister said anti-dumping measures were being considered.

Cap SA saw its stock jump after the miner said in March it was shuttering its steel operations. Seeking to support 20,000 jobs in the local industry, politicians are testing the country’s free-trade strategy and risking ire from China, the country’s top buyer of its copper.

  - Bloomberg